


not scared at all to get close to you

by merlypops



Series: 5SOS Song Oneshots [27]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fights, Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 20:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17373047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlypops/pseuds/merlypops
Summary: Ashton’s leather jacket was crumpled on the floor nearby, his red curls twisted around Calum’s fingers as the younger man’s black nail varnish caught the light. His mouth tasted like chocolate and smoke; heady and intoxicating, and something that Ashton could never,everget enough of.Ashton and Calum fight a lot but they love each other more than anything.Based on “Best Friend” by 5 Seconds Of Summer.





	not scared at all to get close to you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This story was born because I realised I haven't written nearly enough Cashton and they have such an interesting dynamic that I wanted to give it a go!  
> Hopefully this will be okay - I wrote it in under two hours so fingers crossed it's not terrible :')
> 
> Essentially, [this picture](https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/221450506663269485/) made me want to write a “Cashton living in the city” oneshot and then I heard Best Friend for the first time today (no, I’m not okay) so this story was born.

They fought before the sun had fully risen that morning, arguing about something stupid probably - the unwashed dishes in the sink or whose turn it was to feed Duke. Ashton couldn’t remember the ins and outs of what had been said; just the way Calum had shakily lit a cigarette and refused to make eye contact, and how Ashton felt guilty all day because of it.

Fighting with Calum was the worst; always had been, probably always would be. He was supposed to be perpetually smiling; this ray of fucking sunlight with his dimples and his sparkling chocolate brown eyes. Ashton didn’t like it when Calum’s grin faded. He didn’t like when the frown creased his tanned face and made him look tired.

They’d always argued a lot, ever since they were kids when they’d grown up in the same suburb. It had been pretty unavoidable though; they were both competitive, both just proud enough that they were too stubborn to apologise easily. It made for some interesting conversations over dinner; those veiled insults and smirking retorts. It made Ashton love Calum so much he burnt with it.

The arguments changed when they slipped from best friends into something more. The fights were harder then, few and far between but tougher too; scraping away something in Ashton’s chest until he felt raw with the vulnerability because… fuck, he’d never been very good at letting himself feel things and admitting he’d fallen in love with Calum had only made that feel ten times more painful.

He never regretted it though, not even for a moment. There was something about being close to Calum that made him feel like he was circling the sun; something in the twinkle of the younger man’s beautiful gaze that made Ashton want to stick beside him like glue for the rest of his life.

He’d always felt like that though, even when they were back in Sydney and those feelings hadn’t changed, no matter how much the rest of the world did. Now they lived halfway around the planet together in a tiny little apartment, overflowing with plants and instruments, and a ridiculous amount of dog fur. They read aloud to each other and mixed terrible cocktails at stupid times of night, and even when they were fighting, the fire they shared never went out.

Ashton saw it reflected back at him in Calum’s smouldering eyes sometimes: when he was yelling or pleading; when he was grouchy or tense and Ashton kissed him calm again.

Calum could never sulk for long around Ashton; too soft for the older man, no matter how fervently he tried to deny it. They were gone for each other - always had been - and Ashton figured they’d probably stay like that until the very end, no matter what happened.

Through heaven or high water, he wanted Calum in his life.

That thought was at the forefront of Ashton’s mind as he climbed the stairs to their little apartment. Work had been tedious that day - long and boring, and only made worse by the argument that morning - but the sunset outside was beautiful and his heart sped up in his chest as he approached the front door.

“Cal?” he called as he let himself in. “You here, babe?”

The familiar jingle of Duke’s collar sounded as the tiny dog hurried over to greet him and Ashton grinned, crouching down to stroke the little ball of fluff one-handed so that he didn’t drop what he was carrying.

“Who’s a good boy?” Ashton murmured, momentarily distracted, but he jumped when Calum wryly said: “Not him. He chewed up one of your boots about twenty minutes ago. I _tried_ to save it but I didn’t make it in time…”

His voice trailed away innocently and Ashton scowled although he couldn’t quite stop himself from giving the dog one last pet.

“Thanks for that, buddy,” he told Duke sulkily. “Really appreciate it. Maybe I’ll chew one of your things next time; see how you like it, eh?”

“I’d like to see you try,” Calum said with a shrug, his tone just clipped enough that he apparently wasn’t quite over this morning yet. He was dressed in an open shirt and loose shorts, his feet bare as he leant against the doorframe. His black nail varnish was chipped as he took a drag of his cigarette, his curls as fluffy and unruly as ever. “What’s in the box, babe?”

Ashton straightened up, blushing a little as Calum’s gaze flickered over him, lingering on where the older man’s collar was unbuttoned around his throat and the way his work trousers clung to his thighs.

“I picked up pizza on the way home; figured we could have a night off cooking,” Ashton said nonchalantly as he tried to convince himself that the red staining his cheeks was from climbing the stairs and _not_ Calum’s dark eyes on his body. “Picked Hawaiian even though it’s literally the devil’s work. That’s how much I love you.”

“You’re going to eat pineapple on pizza out of choice?” Calum asked, his eyes crinkling as an unconscious smile twitched his lips. He set the box on the table, his dimples creasing his cheeks when he saw his boyfriend watching him hopefully. “Ah. So _that’s_ why you’re my best friend.”

“Only your best friend?” Ashton asked teasingly but he couldn’t deny that there was a little niggle of worry inside him; couldn’t _quite_ shake the fear that maybe this had been one fight too many.

It was only when Calum stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray and reached to take the older man’s hand that Ashton relaxed completely.

“Y’know, I hate most people, babe, but even when you’re an unreasonable prick, I can never hate you.” Calum’s cheeks heated a little at his confession but the tension in his shoulders leaked away when Ashton squeezed his hand comfortingly.

“Oh yeah?” he murmured, still teasing a tiny bit because it wouldn’t have been **them** if he didn’t. “Why’s that then, babe? My winning smile? My pizza purchasing abilities? Or is it the sex?”

His hazel eyes glittered and he laughed a little at the way Calum rolled his eyes fondly.

“Prick,” the younger man repeated, with feeling. He reached to cradle Ashton’s jaw, the gentle touch in direct contradiction to the heat of his words. He carded his fingers lightly through the older man’s dyed red hair, still unused to the colour although unsurprisingly it was growing on him fast.

Ashton was magnetic and Calum would never stop being drawn to him.

When the older man stretched up to kiss him hesitantly, Calum felt the last of his grumpiness drift away. He couldn’t be mad at Ashton when he was kissing him like this, all bumbling and gentle, like the younger man was something precious.

Ashton trembled a little as he carded his fingers through Calum’s curls, his lips parting around a gasp as he breathed the younger man in, like he’d been starved of oxygen since they’d parted that morning.

Calum loved him so much he couldn’t breathe sometimes.

“You’re my fucking world, Ash,” he whispered before he could think twice. “Never want to lose you. Never.”

A soft groan escaped Ashton when he felt the kitchen counter behind him as Calum pressed closer, all tattooed skin and burning love.

“Kills me when we fight,” Ashton admitted when they parted to breathe, his hair in disarray from Calum’s searching fingers as he lifted himself unsteadily to sit on the counter. “Fucking hate it.”

Calum’s arms wrapped around his waist as he stepped between the older man’s thighs, his dark eyes soft as he leant to scatter kisses over Ashton’s jaw.

“You like making up after though, right?” he murmured, looking up just in time to watch with satisfaction as his boyfriend’s eyes darkened. Ashton’s teeth sank into his bottom lip, his red curls messy as they tumbled across his forehead. Calum stretched up on his tiptoes to kiss him.

“You’re not wrong,” Ashton conceded but the rest of his words were lost when Calum licked into his mouth, pushing the older man’s leather jacket off his shoulders clumsily so that he could touch his skin.

“Not in front of the dog,” Ashton gasped out, a breathless giggle escaping him when he ignored his own advice and pulled his boyfriend closer. Calum grinned, his teeth grazing the older man’s lip and drawing a whine from him as a blush started to colour his cheeks too.

“Duke doesn’t mind,” Calum murmured, his eyes sparkling. “He’s probably chewing more of your shoes.”

“Damn dog,” Ashton said with nothing but fondness. He groaned when the younger man’s lips trailed down his neck, shivering at the cool air when Calum’s clever fingers made short work of his shirt. “The pizza’s gonna get cold, babe.”

Calum drew back to look at him, one eyebrow quirked as his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

“You care about the pizza?” he asked doubtfully.

“No,” Ashton admitted, his eyes falling shut as Calum sucked a bruising kiss into his collarbone. “Only you.”

The sun was setting through the window outside, painting their apartment in reds and purples as the leafy plants cast strange shadows across the walls. Duke was curled up in the hallway with an expensive boot, his little paws resting on it as he gnawed at the laces.

Ashton’s leather jacket was crumpled on the floor nearby, his red curls twisted around Calum’s fingers as the younger man’s black nail varnish caught the light. His mouth tasted like chocolate and smoke; heady and intoxicating, and something that Ashton could never, _ever_ get enough of.

They’d come so far together and no amount of arguing was going to jeopardise that; not when the love they felt shone like the sun, licking at them like flames.

It was a fire that would never burn out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading!  
> I'd love to hear what you thought :)


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